Process of making irradiation chambers



July 12, 1949 s. o. I EvlNsoN ET AL 2,476,152, Y

PROCESS OF MAKING IRRADIATION CHAMBERS Original Filed July 8, 1944 Patented July 12, 1949 .PROCESS ,OFMAKINGL IRRADIATION CHAMBERS .Sidney `;.'Levnsonzand FranzfOppenheimer, Chi- ,.cago, Ill,.,.assgnor.s1to Michael;Reesei;Research Foundation, a-nonprot rcorporation .of Illinois l'Original application July "8, 1944, Serial No.

vv544,098. -Divided and this application July" Z0, 1948,-SerialNo. 39,678

. X.1 vThislinvention'relates .to a method-cfmaking lirradiating chambers-.and more particularly tothe lmanufacture of '.a chamber in :whichta lm oa .liquid orsuspension of a-1-:desired4 thinness mayzbe mow abandoned.

plOCeSS.

particular process.

in such treatments.

formed of two flat plates.

material can be controlled.

:one form of .irradiating -chamb.er:made by our chamber;

is the side exposed to removed. This pro- A brace or submitted .to ultraviolet, .or other, irradiation. A5 .Figris.arplan-;view; This application isa division of our copending :FigllisffaView.'ofithe-topandbottom wallso'f applicationseriallNo.; 544,098, filed `July 18, 1944; the.y chamberfand;thexaspacerzpstripon an-enlarged '.scale; and The treatment of various substances by irradiaf'FigfA-isfa vertical,sectionaltviewfof the irration Ais :widely employed for developing certain 10 A`diatingchamber before :removalfof :thespacer properties; inthe. materials treated or for causing :strips on 1l-inel4-,=4:of-1i-ig.,1. desired chemical changes in them. In the pracfReferringrtothe dra-Wings the 4'reference numtice of such processes. commercially, it is necessary :eral 1I .idesignatesa :at plate Lof purest=-optical to develop a standard technique for each given zquartz. :Thisplatepwhichftormsithefrontnof-,the

A lamp and irradiating chamber of a irradiating chamber, that certain type is generally employed, the material the rays, is very thin, preferably of a thickness is submitted to treatment for a denite period less than 0.5 mm. A similar plate 2 forms the of time and a predetermined film thickness is other wall of the irradiating chamber. The back employed, the variables being correlated to each plate may be of greater thickness and any type other to produce the best over-all results for the of quartz can be used as the rays do not pass through it. The back plate 2 does not require In such processes the thickness of the film of polishing but the plates I and 2 are ground so liquid or suspension is generally an important that their adjacent surfaces are parallel. consideration. Many of the materials treated are In assembling the plates I and 2 into an irraopaque to the rays employed, in varying degrees, dia'ting chamber which will expose a iilm of departicularly the shorter rays generally employed sired thinness, the spacer plate 3 is first placed One of the greatest diffculbetween the plates I and 2 and the plates I and 2 ties heretofore encountered in such processes is are then sealed on each side by fusion or the like. the maintenance of a film of the desired thinness. The spacer plate is preferably formed of thin In the present invention we have provided an gauge metal but it may be formed of any material irradiating chamber by means of which the thickcapable of withstanding the temperatures emness of the treated iilm can be maintained uniployed in fusing the edges of the plates I and 2 form throughout the chamber. The chamber is and also capable of being worked to exact dimen- For short wave ultrasions to produce the desired spacing between the violet irradiation, the front 0f the chamber, that 35 plates I and 2. After the chamber has been is, the side exposed to the irradiation, is made formed, the spacer plate is Very thin and of the highest grade optical quartz. duces a cell of the desired depth and with accurate The plates are ground so that their surfaces are spacing between the inner faces of the plates I parallel. After the plates have been properly and 2 throughout the length of the cell to thereby prepared, they are placed over a strip oi metal, expose a film of the desired thickness. In this or other suitable material, of a predetermined manner we have made irradiating chambers, using thickness which serves as a spacer and the side high grade quartz for the front plate I, with a edges of the plates are then sealed to each other spacing between the plates as small as 0.1 mm., by fusion. The spacer is removed, after the plates but of course any desired spacing of the plates I have been sealed to each other, and the unsealed and 2 and resulting depth of the treated nlm may ends sealed to tubes to form a chamber of the be obtained. desired depth for exposing the lm. By employ- An inlet tube 4 is sealed to one open end of the ing spacers of varying desired thicknesses, the chamber and an outlet tube 5 is sealed to the depth of the chamber and the thickness of the other open end of the chamber. lm can be accurately controlled. By feeding the strengthening rod 6 may be connected to these liquid or suspension through the apparatus under tubes intermediate their ends to give greater pressure or vacuum, the chamber can be kept strength to the completed chamber. By passing lled at all times and the rate of flow of the the liquid or suspension to be treated into the irradiating chamber upwardly through the inlet tube 4 and removing it from the chamber down- In the accompanying drawings we have shown Wardly through the outlet tube 5, the ow of material through the chamber can be regulated in any suitable manner so as to keep the chamber always filled and thus expose a lm of the desired thickness to the treatment. Regulation of the iiow also controls the time that the material is in the irradiating chamber and exposed to the irradiation.

It Will be apparent that the method and construction herein described produces an irradiating chamber in which accurate and uniform spacing of the top and bottom plates is obtained so that a film of uniform thickness and of a desired thickness may be passed through the chamber. By regulating the rate of flow, the time of irradiation may be controlled and the device may be readily assembled at a given distance from a lamp whereby uniform conditions may be obtained in treating any material. The method of forming the chamber provides a simple means whereby a chamber of a desired depth may be obtained.

In treating materials wherein contamination from outside sources must be avoided, as in bio-l logical Work, the chamber possesses the additional advantage of providing a closed system. Thus the material to be treated may be delivered from a feeding ask (not shown) by suitable connection to the inlet end 4 of the chamber and may be discharged from the outlet end 5 to a collecting ilask (not shown) by means of a tubing so that no contact with the air is possible from the time the material is placed in the feeding flask until the process is completed. Thus the material is not subjected, at any time, to the hazard of chance contamination.

We claim:

1. The herein described method which comprises placing a pair of transparent plates on opposite sides of a spacer plate of the desired thickness, sealing the side edges of the plates to each other, removing the spacer plate and sealing an inlet tube to one end and an outlet tube to the other end of the plates.

2. The herein described method which comprises grinding the faces of a pair of quartz plates, one of said plates being formed of thin high grade quartz, placing the quartz plates on opposite sides of a spacer plate of a predetermined thickness, uniting the side edges of the quartz plates to each other, removing the spacer plate, and uniting each end of the quartz plates to a tube.

3. The herein described method of forming an irradiation chamber of a desired dimension throughout which comprises grinding the faces of a pair of quartz plates, one of which is formed of thin high grade quartz, placing the plates of quartz on opposite sides of a metal plate of a thickness corresponding to the desired dimension of the irradiating chamber, sealing the side edges of the quartz plates to each other, removing the spacer plate, and sealing each end of the quartz plates to a tube.

SIDNEY O.k LEVINSON. FRANZ OPPENHEIMER.

No referencesl cited. 

